


Humanity

by PoisonJack



Series: Seven Heavenly Virtues [3]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: General au, M/M, Panic Attacks, Rhys is Handsome Jack's Personal Assistant, come on jack thats why you have directors and personnel in charge of this shit, hahaha bless Rhys' echo eye for bio-scanning xD, oh wait no theyre incompetent so nvm, you're only human jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-09-19 20:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17008254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonJack/pseuds/PoisonJack
Summary: Jack hasn't been delegating work while problems happen about Helios. His employees' incompetence and his frustrations lead him to have a panic attack (or in his dramatic mind, a heart attack) and Rhys is there to make it all better.Migrating some older works from tumblr :) This is part of my Seven Heavenly Virtues series, to accompany the Seven Deadly Sins series.





	Humanity

**Author's Note:**

> There’s so many opposites to the 7 deadly sins that I went with one of the general themes of each “virtue” on wikipedia lol.
> 
>  
> 
> _Temperance- humanity, justice, honor, abstinence_

“What the hell is going on on this damn station?!” Jack growled out as he was typing away furiously, angry grimace on his face.

“Do you want me to send another team out, or…?”

“The fucking deck is on fire, the gravity is off in the damn science labs of all places, my _guns_ ended up on Pandora and we've got a damn crate of-- I don't even _know_ what kind of mushrooms those are- and my top programmers are locked out of their systems like some goddamn interns!”

“Jack you know _I_ can look into some of this--” Rhys tried to help, only being cut off by more aggravated ranting.

“And I could really go for some pretzels right about now but these pretzels are shitty and I _can’t_ go get good ones because no one can apparently take a shit without me!”

Rhys came up behind the man to work a hand against his shoulder, waves of irritation and frustration coming off the CEO. “Jack, do you want me to start on anything specific? I _can_ handle some of this for you.”

“No. No if I don't take care of it personally they'll just fuck it up more,” the older man said with frustrated helplessness.

[[MORE]]

“Take a rest then? Helios won't fall if you lay down for ten minutes. I promise.”

“No. No there's only so many hours in the day and every second I waste they're fucking up more and more and- and--” The CEO dragged both hands through his perfect hair, and Rhys sighed next to him as he kneading the older man’s shoulder.

“Please, Jack,” Rhys coaxed, knowing an imminent breakdown when he saw it. “Rest for a minute so you can refocus.”

Jack sat back in his chair with a displeased, disturbed look out into the office as Rhys continued kneading at his shoulder as if he could ease some of the agitation away. Jack brought up his hands, and noticed they were shaking. He frowned at them, ignoring Rhys for the moment. His breath was coming quicker, there was a clenching pain in his chest, and his heart began hammering as he realized he'd started to shake and he didn't know why.

“ _Jack_. Hey.” Rhys gave him a little squeeze and an incline of his head. “Jack.”

“I-I think I'm having a heart attack.”

Rhys made his grip firm, voice even and calm. “You're not, it's okay.”

“Oh my god I'm having a fucking _heart attack_!” Jack said with widening eyes, watching as one hand shook uncontrollably while the other clenched at his chest. His breaths were fast, hyperventilating, and all he could focus on was the chest pain and the thundering of his heart and the way his throat constricted with a tingling up his spine--

“ _Breathe_ , okay? Come on. Deep breaths,” Rhys told him calmly as he scanned the man with his echoeye. “You’re okay. Breathe.”

“I'm _dying_ of a fucking _heart attack_ Rhys--!”

“It's just a panic attack, okay? You know I'd know, right?” Jack looked up at him with wild eyes filled with confusion and fear. He gripped Rhys’ flesh arm, his hand shaking on the younger man, and Rhys just let him as he tried to keep his tone calm and unhurried. “You're not dying, I promise. No heart attack is going to take out Handsome Jack. Just breathe.”

Rhys did what his eye suggested as he monitored the CEO’s vitals and tried to stabilize his imminent terror, calming the older man and working him through it as best he could. He eventually got Jack up after he'd safely calmed enough, and had him lay on the couch in the office with Rhys behind him keeping him secure.

The younger man stayed kept his arms firm around the CEO, but not restrictive, and told him to concentrate on Rhys’ own breathing, the rise and fall of his own chest. He was _not_ dying, it was okay, just _breathe_. He continued being reassuring as Jack grabbed at him until the shaking subsided. It took some time before the CEO calmed again somewhat back to normal but clearly shaken.

“Fucking… A _panic_ attack?” Jack said with disappointment clear in his voice. He had Rhys’ hand clenched in one of his own just above his heart. “Me?”

“You’re not dying today, Jack. Sorry,” Rhys told him with a smile as he stroked fingers through Jack’s hair. “Helios won't fall without you, I promise. And I'm going to take care of a few things for you, so you just rest. You _need_ some rest.”

“A panic attack. Handsome Jack, hero bandit killer, having a fucking _panic attack_.”

“You're only human, Jack. No matter how much you think you're a god.”

Jack made a disgruntled noise, giving Rhys’ hand a squeeze. “I _am_ a god. God of cock.”

“There ya go,” Rhys told him with grin apparent in his voice while Jack continued making little sounds of displeasure and self-annoyance. The CEO entwined his fingers with the hand grasping the younger man’s, and Rhys gave him a squeeze. “Only human, handsome.”

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://purge-that-urge-rhackathon.tumblr.com/) | [my fic masterlist archive](http://purge-that-urge-rhackathon.tumblr.com/post/134979026515/poisonjack-ao3-fic-archive) | [my twitter](https://twitter.com/PurgeThatUrge) | [my pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/PoisonJack)  
> (Just an FYI: you'll need to be logged in to tumblr for my blog to show up since it's marked explicit :D)
> 
> Please leave kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! ao3 FAQ: [Can I post comments anonymously, or if I don't have an Archive account? ](https://archiveofourown.org/faq/comments-and-kudos?language_id=en#anoncomment)


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